Upon release from prison, Arakelyan and Vardanyan were ordered to serve five years of supervised release and pay $42,043 in restitution, according to a US Justice Department statement. In March, the two pled guilty to charges of bank fraud and identity theft.
Arakelyan and Vardanyan admitted that they participated in a scheme to defraud bank account holders and financial institutions by using 952 stolen bank cards to withdraw cash from bank ATMs in Northern California. The duo possessed two loaded firearms, a GPS device pre-programmed with ATM locations and eight mobile telephones, all to further their scheme.
The two men were part of a broader conspiracy to replace about 84 authentic PIN pads – used by Michaels' stores to process debit and credit card purchases – with fraudulent pads from which conspirators downloaded customers’ banking information, the statement said. The Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force is pursuing others involved in the scheme.
“These sentences send a clear message that if you take part in a fraud scheme that cheats consumers out of their hard earned money, you will pay a significant price,” said Assistant Attorney General Breuer in announcing the sentences.